This invention relates to exercise equipment, and more particularly to an exercise apparatus designed for use by individuals while in a supine position, such as bed-ridden patients and/or non-ambulatory individuals.
The benefits derived from regular and routine physical exercise are well known and documented. So, too, are the adverse effects that may result from a lifestyle that omits regular physical exercise. As a result, regular exercise in some form is encouraged for nearly all individuals, ranging from individuals in perfect health to patients confined to a bed. For healthy, ambulatory individuals, exercise is obviously much easier accomplished compared to people who have some ailment or condition that causes limitation in the manner in which physical activity is carried out. Physical activity is, for the later class of individuals, no less important than it is for healthy people, but it may be more difficult to perform given the physical conditions and limitations that may be present.
While there are innumerable ways of exercising, many of which require no special equipment at all, there also are scores of devices on the market for assisting exercise in order to make it more enjoyable, safe and efficient. Indeed, there are seemingly as many different exercise devices as there are types of exercise. But when it comes to individuals who are confined to a bed or wheelchair or the like, or have difficulty moving around, the available options in exercise equipment are more limited. Although there are numerous different exercise devices designed for use by bed-ridden and non-ambulatory patients, many such devices tend to be expensive, complicated and unwieldy. Moreover, for patients confined to a bed it may be difficult to provide a device designed to provide leg exercises since there may be few options for attaching the device to the bed.
There is a continuing need for exercise equipment useful to individuals who need to exercise while lying in a supine position.
An exercise apparatus includes hinged plates with a spring therebetween and a bracket for mounting the plates to a surface such as a bed. The user pushes a first plate toward a second plate against the biasing force provided by the spring to exercise.